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Top Vegan / Vegetarian Restaurants in Gainesville
By Jared Hart
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When I made the decision to become vegan 2 years ago, I found it very easy to transition to this lifestyle of eating in Gainesville, Florida. I was amazed at the many vegan and vegetarian restaurants around and the endless choices when going to these restaurants. Whether you are interested in going vegan or just want to try something new for a change, Gainesville is sure to satisfy your eating habits when it comes to eating healthy and tasty plant based food. Not only will you be impressed with the food, but you will also be improving your health and helping the environment.
Here are some of my top 5 vegan/vegetarian friendly restaurants in Gainesville around UF:
1. Reggae Shack Café
Not exclusively an all vegan restaurant, but this Jamaican style cafe boasts as many vegan options on the menu as non-vegan ones. I always seem to try something new on the menu whenever I go here and many of my non vegan friends are impressed with the vegan choices here. I personally enjoy the curry tempeh which is served with red beans, rice and plantains or the famous, and their most popular dish, the jerk tofu, if you’re in for a spicy dish. Don’t forget their fresh nondairy smoothies and vegan coconut cake after your meal.
2. Vegan2go
Even though this small hole in the wall is a couple miles from campus, you will sure find many delicious vegan options here at this 100% vegan restaurant. There many choices include food such as vegan shrimp as an appetizer, their vegan “phillycheesesteak sub” and their most popular item, vegan chick’n rice. They also make many vegan deserts and smoothies for you to enjoy and provide weekly meals to those who don’t have enough time to cook during the week and also deliver.
3. Satchels Pizza
Thought you couldn’t still munch on delicious pizza after not ordering that pizza with delicious” Think again and come out to Satchels, who have many vegan pizza options. You can even create your own pizza with various toppings such as fresh vegetables and fruit, vegan cheese, local organic tempeh, tofu and many more. They offer large salads, calzones and subs as well and do have a gluten-free option on the pizza crust.
4. Karma Cream
Walking into this place, your mouth will start to water staring at the delicious vegan bakery in sight. This bakery/café caters to vegans and has many options to choose from such as a plethora of vegan ice cream flavors, sundaes, sandwiches and many baked goods. My favorite item to get here is the vegan grilled cheese and I always have to get one of their vegan baked goods to go such as their scrumptious vegan chocolate chips cookies, vegan cinnamon rolls and even their famous vegan chocolate peanut butter cupcake when it’s available.
5. The Jones
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, this little gem has many vegan and vegetarian options to choose from. For breakfast, try the vegan tempeh scramble which is very similar to the good old scrambled eggs or a huge toasted bagel smeared with vegan cashew cream cheese and stacked with fresh veggies with a side of fruit. For lunch and dinner, go for the tofu coconut curry bowl or the tempeh kale melt with a side of baked homefries.
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